Irvine vs Yorba Linda

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forouza1

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Hello fellow OCers, just wanted to get some opinions on commuting.

Does anyone do the Irvine to North OC commute?  I work in Fullerton.  Thinking about moving family to Irvine and commuting to Fullerton.  It would be going against traffic (I-5 to I-57) but I hear it can still get busy on the commute back to Irvine (Orange crush?).  The only reason we are considering it is because all our family is in Irvine or south OC.  Otherwise, YL from a financial standpoint makes much more sense.  We want to buy a new development or something built after 2000. 

Mostly curious to hear comments on commuting from Irvine to North OC.  Thanks
 
My friend did Irvine to Fullerton as an executive for a tech company out there. He did it for 12 months and said it was hit and miss. The 57 according to him was rarely free flowing except after 8PM, or before 6am. So I suppose it depends on when you plan to leave for work and leave for home.

In the end he moved his family to Fullerton to keep his sanity.
 
Thanks IndieDev for the input.  I know a couple coworkers coming from Newport and Turtle Rock and I don't think they are fond of the commute at all but they put up with it.  One of them is still driving his hybrid in HOV lane and taking the risk of getting ticketed. 
 
i have been making the drive for the last 5 years, i keep on going past fullerton from irvine.  i start my commute a little later to miss some of the traffic (around 8:30am), typically the 5 (from Jamboree) to the 57 is hit and miss, some days traffic is moving at 40-50mp, some days its 20mph. Once i get on 57, that is typically wide open for me. But when im on the 5 i always check sigalert.com on the iphone to see if i should take the 57 or 55-91-57 just to make sure. On the way home the 57 can be good or bad, as indie said. Sometimes it is slow from the 91 down to the 5, with the 5 being shitty as well. Other times its wide open up until you hit the 5/22 interchange. There seems to be a good amount of accidents on the 57 south between the 91 and 5. not sure why.  in the winter time, since it gets dark around 4:30-5pm, i typically get in the car pool lane if the traffic is slow on the 57, havent been caught yet! in the spring/summer i stay out of the car pool lane though.
 
I did the commute from south Irvine (near UCI) to Brea for four years.  I didn't find it that bad. Depending on where you have to go, I would recommend taking 55 over 5-->57.  I needed to go to Imperial & Kraemer so I actually took 73-->55-->91 and exited Tustin.  It used to take me about 35 - 40 minutes, depending on whether or not school was in session.  The crush does back up and felt especially cumbersome to me in the winter months when you're driving home after dark and all you see are red break lights. Good luck!
 
I have been taking the carpool lane in the dark since 1995. I've never been caught (mostly on the 405 though).
 
IndieDev said:
I have been taking the carpool lane in the dark since 1995. I've never been caught (mostly on the 405 though).
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Indie you sound like my coworker. He has gotten 4 carpool tickets in the past 10 years which he claims is more than worth the time savings.
 
LAtoOC said:
IndieDev said:
I have been taking the carpool lane in the dark since 1995. I've never been caught (mostly on the 405 though).
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Indie you sound like my coworker. He has gotten 4 carpool tickets in the past 10 years which he claims is more than worth the time savings.
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He's probably right depending on his line of work. If you have to be in West LA for business during the week, or get to the airport, I would estimate that you save about 25-30 minutes per one way trip, or about 1 hour a day in traveling time. For a regular 9-5 white collar professional, that is about 250 hours per year.

Would you buy 250 hours of your life back for 1 or 2 tickets at $341 a pop. Even 3 tickets. I'd say that's a steal.
 
Today from the 5/Jamboree to the 57/Yorba Linda Blvd (across from Cal St Fullerton), it took me 20 minutes. I think it was about 15-16 miles. Not bad at all.
 
That's pretty good Qwerty. It's about 5-10 more minute drive from Yorba Linda exit to my work so looking at about 25-30min commute.  This might be a tough decision. 
 
forouza1 said:
That's pretty good Qwerty. It's about 5-10 more minute drive from Yorba Linda exit to my work so looking at about 25-30min commute.  This might be a tough decision. 
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one thing i do when looking at a home is to drive the actual route to work from the house, both in the morning and evening, on different days. then you will really know what you are getting into. if you havent done that you should consider doing it.
 
Definitely try driving the route at the times you would be going to work/home and look at the historical speeds using Google and change the date/time to look at what has happened historically in the past for the specific weekdays (go to link, select traffic in upper right and select change for the live traffic and select day of week and move the time slider).

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=361l1120l2l1245l6l4l0l2l2l0l107l515l1.4l7l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1366&bih=611&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=361l1120l2l1245l6l4l0l2l2l0l107l515l1.4l7l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1366&bih=611&um=1&ie=UTF-8&gl=us&saddr=irvine&daddr=fullerton+traffic&dirflg=d&geocode=KeNAkWgO3dyAMTmaSmB1tXqn;KWPLgcN0Kt2AMUrqYB6BU5z1&ei=G1gxT4mqB8aksQL0k_j1Bg&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCcQ9w8wAA
 
If I were to do that commute (which I may have to some day)... I would leave earlier or later. Traffic at 6:30/7am and at 9/9:30am seems to be better (as with 3:30/4pm or 6/6:30pm).
 
Here's my theory..I am moving to YL in a month! woo hoo!

I live in Aliso Viejo. So I take 133 - 5 - 57 and exit Lambert.

If I get on the 5 (at the 133) before 7am, i'm clear. After that, you will hit increasingly more traffic. Not necessarily accidents, just plain traffic. At 730, you're done.  You'll get bogged down just a couple of miles before the marketplace, then opens up for a bit before slowing down AGAIN before the 55, then clear to the 57. Once on the 57, you're good until 2 miles before 91 ..then it's slow until you pass the 91...opens up for a smidge before Cal State Fullerton (e.g. Nutwood, etc...) Then opens up after CSUF to lambert. And that's where my commute ends. Key is be on the 5N by 7am. After that, it's game over. I can't wait for my 5 mile, surface street-only commute!  8)
 
Thanks for the great advice.  yeah, I would share similar sentiments.  Right now I leave from Anaheim to Yorba Linda Blvd around 710-715 and it's congested but usually flowing around 55-60mph.  Slows a bit at Nutwood (CSUF) and then open.  It's amazing when CSUF is out on break as the 57 really opens up in the morning.

The key question for me is the commute back because I can't really get out before 5pm and 57 is already crowded by then til the 91, then the 22/5/57 interchange.
 
Off topic but since we're giving freeway secrets, avoid 5 south carpool on weekends past the crush, the merge from the 57 south carpool lane and the 5 south carpool is abrupt and confuses people (left to right merge).  Usually a line of minivans going away from Disneyland. 

Also if heading south near the crush and traffic is jammed, use 22 east to 55 south and back on the 5 south avoids a lot of the crowds.
 
Commuting between Irvine and Fullerton/Brea is not the same as commuting between Irvine and Yorba Linda.

I used to commute between Irvine and Brea for work M-F and it was OK.

Getting in and out of Eastern Yorba Linda is another story.  Given choice, I'd look for homes in Northern Placentia or Brea instead of Yorba Linda.

If you like Irvine style communities, check out Amerige Heights in Fullerton.  I almost bought there years ago.  There are also many nice older homes up the hills in Fullerton.

But if you do buy in YL, there's a nice Tea House by Imperial & YL Blvd.  For those who don't like to make the drive frequently, you can buy frozen scones and cream from the British Grocer in downtown Fullerton @ Village de Sol.
http://www.teaandteacups.com/tearoom.htmhttp://www.thebritishgrocer.com/


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